The only thing that stops the dust is the rain. It’s a sweet reprieve, but there is no middle ground. The land is either as dry as the Betty Ford clinic, or as wet as the ocean floor. Everything can be seen from the ridge overlooking Armadillo as John Marston gently bounces along atop...

I get it hooked up, turned on, and updated. I go to create a PSN account and...the service is currently under maintenance. For the next eight hours, as it seems. No Netflix, no multiplayer (not that I have anything to play right now anyway...), no online features of any sort. Is this the sort of reliability I get to look forward to with this system? Because as of right now, it's not off to a great day-one start.

On a side note, I have my system's username set as my first name. Is that going to be the same as my PSN handle, or do I have to create a separate one for that? Also, is there anything else I should know about this thing?

The system username is just what you'll see on a list of local area network devices. Your PSN ID is what you'll decide on when you sign up for an account.

Good to know. I'm probably just jumping the gun a bit with my apprehensiveness. I've spent the majority of the day so far cleaning and doing chores. It's got me a bit grumpy and groggy. I'll get it all squared away later this evening.

The system username is just what you'll see on a list of local area network devices. Your PSN ID is what you'll decide on when you sign up for an account.

I got my PSN ID set up, and yet here I am still watching Netflix on my 360 because it's not working on the PSN. I haven't even done anything on my PS3 yet, and I'm already preferring Xbox Live to the Playstation Network.

We spent most of the afternoon at the doctor's office checking out ultrasound pictures, and now the kids are screaming for their mind-numbing educational kids' shows, so the amount of gaming I do tonight will be minimal (if not altogether non-existent). I'm really pulling for The Last of Us to redeem my PS3 experience thus far. I really want to enjoy this console and all the great games it has to offer.

I know a thing or two about skepticism toward new experiences that don't instantly deliver the goods, but I promise you you'll warm up to the PS3 as you explore everything on offer. The Instant Game Collection available with PlayStation Plus is something you should check out. Maybe some of the free games will tickle your fancy._________________

Longo_2_guns wrote:

I was drunk last night, but I stand by my vote call. De-Ting is considerably more active than he usually is when playing, which means he's actually something worth playing.

I know a thing or two about skepticism toward new experiences that don't instantly deliver the goods, but I promise you you'll warm up to the PS3 as you explore everything on offer. The Instant Game Collection available with PlayStation Plus is something you should check out. Maybe some of the free games will tickle your fancy.

Yeah, I need to further investigate Playstation Plus to see what it's all about and whether or not it's worth the money.

Klandathu, I was the same way when I first got my PS3. I actually got my PS3 during Black Friday of 2012. I had 5 games with that bundle. Uncharted and Uncharted 2, Infamous and Infamous 2 and a DLC for one of those games. I didn't have a large library at all. I asked Anthony Severino what for any cheap games to expand my library. He recommended me to get PS Plus. I trusted Anthony and I got PS Plus once I had money. Looked at the library of games and was amazed about how many games I could play. It took me a little over a year to fill up my system's storage. There are great games out on PS Plus now, but they will soon go away and be replaced by others.

The only downside to PS Plus is once your subscription ends, your games will go away (unless you paid for them). However, if you downloaded them and re-subscribe, you can still get them back. Trust me, I was in the same boat as you were, PS Plus is worth it. If you were an Xbox 360 user, you will see Xbox 360 is pretty much for MP games while the PS3 is for SP games._________________

Also, I officially do not like The Last Of Us. I'm roughly two hours into the game and I've hit two spots now in which I have died at least a dozen times. It's to the point where it's frustratingly not fun. I'm all for survival horror and taking it back to its roots, but I just don't get this game at all. The story is about the only thing it has going for it at this point. I really hope it starts to even out a bit because I really don't like the prospect of trading a game in before I finish it.

Klandathu - I'm very surprised you're not fond of The Last of Us, but fair enough man, I can understand your frustration. That game can get difficult from time to time. Hopefully it gets better for you.

I'm not surprised about your dislike to Dark Souls. That's either a "you love it" or "you hate it" kinda game. I hated it at first when I got it on PS3, but when I played it on PC I grew to love it. I'm weird like that.

Klandathu - I'm very surprised you're not fond of The Last of Us, but fair enough man, I can understand your frustration. That game can get difficult from time to time. Hopefully it gets better for you.

I'm not surprised about your dislike to Dark Souls. That's either a "you love it" or "you hate it" kinda game. I hated it at first when I got it on PS3, but when I played it on PC I grew to love it. I'm weird like that.

Ok, maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit with it. I'm only a short ways into the game. I'm going to go at it again later with fresh eyes and give it another go. I want to like it. I really do. The prologue had me thoroughly enveloped, and the whole concept has my full attention.

And as far as Dark Souls goes, I played it through the second boss fight (the big guy on the castle rampart, I forget his name). After that, I kinda just threw my hands up and said "fuck it." It is a fun game, don't get me wrong, but the difficulty outweighs the fun for me.

Heavy Rain
God of War (the Saga bundle + Ascension)
The Uncharted series
The Resistance series
Little Big Planet (the girlfriend expressed interest)

This is the short list of games I plan on picking up. Any other recommendations?

Heavy Rain is a pretty damn good game. I enjoyed it at least. Very intriguing story. My only gripe with Heavy Rain is there's little replay value so once you're done with the game that's it, you're done. Luckily Heavy Rain isn't a very expensive game nowadays.

I've never been into God of War, but it's a popular series and people usually say good things about it.

I love the Uncharted series... I highly recommend that.

Never really been into Resistance but I'm told Resistance 3 is quite good.

LittleBigPlanet is very popular and has gotten a lot of positive reviews. Unfortunately I personally just couldn't get into it.

I really don't know what other PS3 exclusives are around. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots might be worth a look at, or better yet you could look into the Metal Gear Solid collection on the PS3 instead?